1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for presenting advertising to viewers, and in particular to a method and apparatus for presenting time shifted advertising to media subscribers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advertising is a ubiquitous element of most video services. Advertisements and promotions for products are blended with broadcast and cable television programming. Newer video services such as direct satellite service (DSS) and Internet video are following suit. Advertising can provide a significant (if not only) source of revenue for a video service provider.
Ideally advertising is targeted to a particular group or demographic of consumers. Generally, advertisers attempt to identify the most receptive group of consumers for their product and spend money to present ads and promotions to them. Thus, the advertising efficiency is maximized. For example, if an advertiser has a thousand flyers printed to promote a new scooter, he should expect a much better response if the ads are distributed at a junior high school than if they are distributed at a nursing home. Similarly, if the selected media is conventional television, the advertiser would prefer to advertise the scooter during a Saturday morning cartoon rather than an afternoon soap opera.
What program is being played may be the strongest available indicator of the demographic that will be watching when the advertisement is played. Identifying the demographic associated with the viewership of a particular show is important to identify the products which will benefit most from having associated advertisements.
When a program is viewed is also an important factor in identifying particular demographic groups. For example, it might be reasonable to assume that daytime television viewers (i.e. “daypart” viewers) comprise a higher percentage of homemakers and the unemployed than prime time viewers; advertisements for cleaning products and job training would be targeted to these groups. The principle of demographic correlation to viewing times is more fully discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/818,230, filed Mar. 27, 2001 by Taber B. Noble and entitled “DAYPART BASED NAVIGATION PARADIGM”, which application is incorporated by reference herein.
Obviously, the viewer numbers are also an important consideration. The value of a particular advertising spot is based in part upon the number of people who will see it; more viewers indicates a higher number of receptive consumer viewers, regardless of the demographic breakdown. However, the non-receptive viewers who end up watching a particular advertisement could be watching another ad (for a product that they are receptive to). This indicates an aggregated advertising inefficiency. In addition, the difficulty with broadcast media is determining just how many viewers actually see the program and associated advertisement, even before analyzing the possible demographic components of the audience. When one thousand flyers are distributed one knows that nearly one thousand people will see the flyer. In contrast, when a commercial is broadcast it is uncertain exactly how many people will actually see it. Estimates are made based upon the popularity of the program associated with the advertisement and other factors. These numbers can then be confirmed based upon statistical studies. Some related exemplary systems and methods to facilitate effective advertisement delivery follow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,045 to Picco et al., which is incorporated by reference herein, describes a system for communicating a programming data stream and a data stream containing pieces of local content data that are going to be inserted into a local content space in the programming data stream at some predetermined time in which the programming data stream and the local content digital data stream are transmitted to a set-top box in a house of a user. The set-top box stores a predetermined portion of the pieces of local content data based on predetermined criteria, and the set-top box identifies a local content space in the programming data stream. The set-top box may also select a particular piece of local content from the storing system to insert into the local content space in the programming data stream based on a plurality of predetermined preferences of the user, retrieve that selected piece of local content from said storage means, and insert that selected piece of local content into said programming data stream at said local content space so that individualized local content specific to the user of the set-top box is inserted into the programming data stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,731 to Ebisawa, which is incorporated by reference herein, describes a video data receiving apparatus that displays the program video inserted the CM video with the desired timing and the desired form based on the demand of viewers. A video data transmitting apparatus transmits the CM data and the program data to display the program video being inserted the CM video with desired form on the receiving apparatus. A broadcasting system wherein the program video inserted the CM video with the form based on the demand of the viewer are displayed on the receiving side is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,170 to Hite et al., which is incorporated by reference herein, describes enhancing television (and radio) advertising by targeting, delivering and displaying electronic advertising messages (commercials) within specified programming in one or more pre-determined households (or on specific display devices) while simultaneously preventing a commercial from being displayed in other households or on other displays for which it is not intended. Commercials can be delivered to specified homes or displays via either over-the-air or wired delivery systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,393 to Hite et al., which is incorporated by reference herein, describes a system and method for targeting TV advertisements to individual consumers delivering a plurality of advertisements to a display site. A command signal is sent to the display site commanding the display of a selected advertisement suited for the individual consumer. In another embodiment, a predetermined advertisement is delivered upon command from a control center to a viewing site intended for the particular consumer.
Significant effort has been expended in improving advertisement targeting. However, unfortunately, many systems and methods for improved advertisement targeting require additional information about the potential viewer. Many systems may supply detailed and personal information concerning viewing habits to a service provider without the understanding or consent of the viewer. Consequently, there is a need for systems and methods which improve the ability to appropriately target consumers with advertisements without requiring a release of private information.
The value of advertising is traditionally based upon estimates of viewer numbers and further estimates of the subset of receptive consumers among those numbers. Advertising is more efficient when more of the total viewers are receptive to the advertisement. There is a need for systems and methods that provide more efficient advertising. Furthermore, as a result of the errors in estimating, advertisers may end up paying too much or too little for a group of receptive consumers to view their advertisements. There is also a need for systems and methods to develop accurate advertisement pricing information.
In addition, traditionally both the pricing and presentation of advertisements is strictly tied to the presentation of particular programs. However, the real objective is for the advertisements to be viewed by receptive consumers in a manner which improves the probability of a purchase. There is a need for pricing and presentation systems and methods that are more directly based associated with the viewing of particular advertisements by receptive consumers. There is also a need for methods of presenting advertisements to receptive customers such that improves the probability of a product purchase.
Furthermore, advertisements are traditionally selected individually for a given slot based upon the assumption that the advertisement will be viewed when the associated program is transmitted (identifying a demographic by viewing time as previously described). However, programs may be recorded and played at various times, making the assumption inaccurate. There is a need for systems and methods which accommodate the time shifting of program playback.
The present invention meets all the foregoing needs.